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Which Surge Protection product is better?

Need your Surge Protection help (for my Trailer).

My family has a Travel Trailer that uses 30 Amp 110/120V Service. Its connected to the camp ground's electrical grid that some call "dirty". re: Some ups, some downs but is known to spike. Already burned out 1 40A convertor in our previous smaller trailer. As a lesson learned, the Camp Ground owner suggested we use Surge Protection in our new Trailer. But, he doesn't recommend a specific product.

Was told that for "most efficient" Surge Protection, a 3 Tier Surge Protection configuration must be used. This 3-Tier is also known as "cascade Surge protection". re: Surge Protection at the Service Post / Line (which could be RV Surge Guard or better Progressive Industry Surge product), trailer's Main Panel 110/120V Surge Protection and sensitive wall outlet Surge Protection. Thus, 3 different layers - for best protection.

Thanks for your link. If wondering, I already have my eyes set on Progressive Industry HW-30 unit (for its main line power cord). Next time I'm States Side, I'll get one of these boxes. This is "layer 1" protection. My question is more about "layer 2" protection - which is 110/120V Main Panel.

Yes. I would like to go HardWire into Main Panal. If you compare the Intermatic and Sycon products (see above URLs in my 1st post), which of these products is better? Which has better clamping, max amp rating and joules. Their purchase cost aside, which product is better?

I stock the sycom product but it is external mounted you need 2 free breaker positions, I would almost check and see what brand of panel you have and see if an internal breaker style surge protector is available for it. I c the link you posted is for 120 v air condidtioner unit, most panels have 2 ,120V buss's in them hmmmm

I like the products that HT Gearhead linked to since they provide much more protection than just surge protection. Fault protection is an issue with camp site power, especially if traveling. I would go hard wired since a plugin unit could disappear overnight, if you know what I mean.

Many of the cheap surge protectors are basically "single use" products. That is, they often fail when absorbing a surge and are no longer effective. Get two large surges close together and your equipment will still be toast. They can also get expensive to replace if frequent surges occur. Some of them have an indicator to show that they are still good. If the indicator goes out, it is time to replace them. Most wall plug products incorporate this type of protection which uses a 50 cent part called an MOV. They can be purchased at most electronics parts suppliers. The rest of the price for these products is for the case and a monster markup. This is also true of most surge protection power bars, including some expensive products from big box stores.

Better products incorporate multiple high capacity MOVs but sull connect in parallel and are usually hard wired. The Intermatic and Sycom products fit this category. While better than plugin products, they can fail with time and provide limited protection, especially from wiring faults, overvoltage, undervoltage or repeated small spike and surges. Here is another product from a very reputable maker. I would avoid the Intermatic product due to the short warranty in the description.

Even better products employ a series of filters, MOVs and/or clamping diodes and electronic protection circuitry. They are typically characterized by larger size and a series connection. They usually also include RF filtering. Something like this is typical.

You might want to consider using a voltage regulator or UPS for some items. A network or home theater grade UPS would be best but a standard UPS might be Ok, depending on what is being protected.